The proposed transfer of Saint Clare’s Health Systems from Catholic Health Initiatives to Prime Healthcare Services, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been delayed, according to a joint press release.

The proposed transfer of Saint Clare’s Health Systems from Catholic Health Initiatives to Prime Healthcare Services, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been delayed, according to a joint press release.

WANTAGE — The defense in the case of Matthew Pinkerton — one of the two off-duty Byram Department of Public Works workers charged with blocking a woman’s car and smashing her window — concluded its case Friday after months of hang-ups and venue changes, which saw the case transfer among four different courts.

WANTAGE — The defense in the case of Matthew Pinkerton — one of the two off-duty Byram Department of Public Works workers charged with blocking a woman’s car and smashing her window — concluded its case Friday after months of hang-ups and venue changes, which saw the case transfer among four different courts.

HARDYSTON -- Continuing a 31-year promotion, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher conducted a two-day tour of the farms and operations in the Garden State that embody "Jersey Fresh," including a Friday stop at Cava Winery and Vineyard.

HARDYSTON -- Continuing a 31-year promotion, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher conducted a two-day tour of the farms and operations in the Garden State that embody "Jersey Fresh," including a Friday stop at Cava Winery and Vineyard.

The 9,425 customers in Sussex County without electricity are asking when their power will be restored, but the answer from Jersey Central Power & Light is not what they want to hear after 10 days in the dark.

"We hope to have the majority of our customers up by the end of the weekend," JCP&L Spokesman Chris Eck said. "We are still on track for the hurricane restoration."

But, for the approximately 2,000 customers, or 120,000 statewide, that had their power restored after Hurricane Sandy and then knocked out again from the Wednesday night nor'easter, the utility company said there is no estimated restoration time.

"We are working on it as fast as we can," Eck said about those customers.

These answers caused local residents and officials to grow more frustrated and to speak out against JCP&L's progress and lack of information Thursday.

Anita Straway, a Township Committee member in Stillwater, called JCP&L's progress "reprehensible and disgusting," while George Graham, a councilman in Stanhope, told the freeholders on Wednesday that JCP&L is providing "poor information, misinformation and no information" on restoration.

Assemblyman Gary Chiusano, R-24th Dist., said that while he has seen firsthand that the power company is working hard and has taken great steps since last year's Hurricane Irene, he hopes that JCP&L can in the future provide more specific and accurate information on estimated restoration times neighborhood by neighborhood so that residents can plan accordingly.

Chiusano said he and fellow state Assembly member Alison Littell McHose and state Sen. Steven Oroho have driven the area extensively to see "the extent of the damage, the progress and to verify in some instances where they are saying no one is out working." With this information, the three have then confirmed with the power companies and other officials where the need is.

From this, Chiusano said the biggest need right now is that residents and local officials need more accurate information in order to plan.

"I'm frustrated because as hard as the people are working on the ground, and it's a dangerous job, I just got to believe that when this is over we need to work diligently with the power companies to find a better way of getting us more accurate, reliable, localized information," Chiusano said.

Chiusano said JCP&L should be able to transpose the information on where crews are working into an online map so that customers can plan accordingly.

Oroho agreed: "You look at this storm up here and you have significant damage. There are a lot of different issues happening throughout the whole state. Having said that, ... I've talked to some people who just want to know the (restoration) time."

Eck said that street-by-street or address-by-address outage maps are not ideal when there are outages on this large level. For example, he described a situation Thursday where 12 customers were without service even though all of their neighbors around them had service. He said that to get their power back will require nine new poles and a transformer repair.

"It will take crews a long time to get those 12 customers restored," he said. " When we get to this neighborhood level ... it is extremely difficult to come up with street-by-street restorations."

He said JCP&L will continue to provide updated restoration charts daily to show the number of customers who are expected to be restored town by town. The governor has required that all of the utilities provide this information.

Freeholder Director Phil Crabb said that while these restoration charts are useful, he echoed the sentiment that they do not provide the detail that is needed.

"Those who are out still have no idea where they stand in getting restored," Crabb said. "Where are those houses? What is the geography behind those numbers? At least then, they would know where they stand."

Claudia Burdge, a Hampton resident, said these restoration charts have done little to assure her of when her power will come back. She lives off of Plotts Road, which overlooks Sussex County Community College in Newton. The college has power.

"Today, they told me that we'd probably be restored by Sunday, and then I called them today and they said we have no restoration date because of the severe weather that happened on Nov. 7," she said. "We have been without power for 10 days, and now we have no restoration date?"

Burdge said she is frustrated to not see JCP&L trucks as she drives around in her car, mostly to use the car's heat since her house is cold.

"Where is JCP&L? We pay a lot of money for our electric bill, and we can't get our electric restored in 10 days. That is ridiculous," Burdge said. "I don't know how an electric company can think that two weeks without power is OK."

Eck assured that many crews are working in Sussex County. He said that 1,600 linemen were brought in Thursday to join the more than 14,000 JCP&L people, who have restored power to 2.1 million customers across JCP&L's six states.

"I don't know what area (the linemen went to) yet, but at least it is nice to know they responded," Chiusano said.

Eck said customers do not always see trucks right near their homes, but this does not mean that JCP&L is not present, since they are working around the clock to restore power since they often first repair transmission lines and substations.

Gov. Chris Christie urged patience on Thursday and offered slack to JCP&L and other utility companies. He said all should be restored by Sunday at the latest.

"The villain in this case is Hurricane Sandy," he said.

When asked about the performance of JCP&L, which was heavily criticized for its response last year, the governor said that the utility has done "significantly better" than it did during the last big storm.

Oroho said that once restoration is complete, then it will be time to talk about what JCP&L needs to do differently for future storms so that improvements can be made, just as was done after Hurricane Irene.

"A lot more learning has to be done," Oroho said. "Having participated through (Irene) last time, and then this time, it is a positive change, but it has to get better."